Capita PIP recordings

I had my PIP assessment on 15/6/26. As advised in my appointment letter, I telephoned Capita on the morning of my assessment to ask that it be recorded. I was told to mention it to the receptionist when I arrived for my assessment. I did as instructed but the receptionist told me to mention it to the assessor. As soon as I was welcomed (with my daughter) by the assessor, I told her about phoning Capita with my request. Looking puzzled, she told me she hadn't had a message about it. She went to consult with the receptionist who then returned to the assessment room with her and told her how to set up the recording (!!!). This was done via her mobile phone and she assured me that the recording had started. On 25/6/26 I received an SMS to say that the written report of my assessment had been received and that I could expect to hear from then again within 8 weeks. A fortnight after my assessment I realised that I hadn't received my copy of the recording, so on 1/7/26 I phoned Capita to enquire. I was told that there was a bit of a backlog in sending the recordings out and to phone again in a couple of weeks. I said that I thought I might receive a link so that I could download the recording. I was told that it would be sent out on a cd. I phoned again on 17/7/26 to advise them that I still hadn't received the recording. The woman who took my call looked at my record and told me that a request for the recording to be sent to me was made on 1/7/26. I said this wasn't right as I had requested that the recording be made on the morning of my assessment. She couldn't shed any light on this but said she could not investigate further until 20 days had passed since my assessment. She advised me to give it a few more days then chase it again. On Friday 17/7/26 I received my decision letter. I have been refused PIP, only scoring 2 points. I was upset and angry at the decision and how it was arrived at so I decided I would write to request a mandatory reconsideration. However, my decision letter did not give an email address for me to use. I phoned to enquire about this and was told that I had to write to them and post my letter. This did not improve my mood. The guy on the phone said that he could register my request for a mandatory reconsideration there and then, which I asked him to do. I also told him that I would write a letter. Shortly after the phone call I received a confirmation SMS to acknowledge my request and stating that DWP will look at their decision again and write to me once they have done this and, as a guide, this should happen within 15 weeks. I thought about this and wondered if there was any point in writing to them in response to my decision letter and what was said, considering that the SMS message did not indicate that I should do this. It implied that they would simply look at the written assessment report again. When I challenged my ESA decision, a fair while back, I had to write out my response to that decision letter. I need clarification now on what to do. Considering that I had now received the decision but was still waiting for my recording, I phoned to chase it again, only to be told that there was nothing further that could be done until the 20-day period had expired, so now I have to phone Capita again tomorrow (20/7/26). I told the woman who I was speaking to that I was annoyed that a request for me to be sent a copy of the recording was not made until 1/7/26, the first time I chased it. "Oh yes!" she said, "You have to ask to be sent a recording." I said that I wasn't told this, to which she apologised. Honestly, why would I ask for the assessment to be recorded if I didn't want a copy of the recording?! I can't help but feel cynical that this was all deliberate.

I put in a complaint to Capita at the same time as my MR.

Response from Capita stated there is no recording on file, however I was told by multiple people it was recorded. I escalated my complaint as I was not happy with their response, and I provided the recording of the assessment I had made, and stressed that the assessor should be held accountable.

I had to have another assessment, this time it took over 2 hours, because there was no recording.

A complaint wouldn't overturn the decision, but I wanted them to know how unhappy I was, plus if everyone who experienced the inaccurate reports Vs what was said in the call, it will at least be logged and show there are huge issues. I doubt it would force any change, but all those complaints will be logged at least.